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McCulloch on Hidden Actions, Hidden Information and Piece Work

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  • Milgate, Murray

Abstract

In a little book entitled A Treatise on the Circumstances which Determine the Rate of Wages and the Condition of the Labouring Classes (1826), remembered principally for its formulation of the wages-fund doctrine, John Ramsay McCulloch set out some of the essential ingredients of certain popular contemporary approaches to the theory of labor contracts which accord priority to informational asymmetries surrounding the purchase and sale of labor. In view of the widely held opinion that this approach to the analysis of labor contracts constitutes a significant theoretical step forward, the details of McCulloch's argument, together with the manner in which that argument prefigures recent claims as to the causes and consequences of hidden actions and hidden information in labor markets, is worth recovering.

Suggested Citation

  • Milgate, Murray, 1994. "McCulloch on Hidden Actions, Hidden Information and Piece Work," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 146-154, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jhisec:v:16:y:1994:i:01:p:146-154_00
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